The present invention relates to an image recognition device for a vehicle, a vehicle head lamp controller, and a method of controlling head lamps.
For providing a safer vehicle, there has been developed a technique of automatically changing a light distribution pattern of head lamps mounted in a vehicle according to a condition in which the vehicle is located.
Concretely, there has been known a technique of changing a radiating direction of a low beam outputted from each head lamp according to a steering angle of a steering wheel so as to prompt a driver to more precisely recognize the condition around the vehicle in the vehicle traveling direction. Further, as a technique of prompting a driver to more precisely recognize not the condition around the vehicle mounted with the technique but the condition far off the vehicle in the traveling direction, there has been also known a technique of detecting a light radiating condition in front of a vehicle with a camera and controlling a light distribution pattern such as a high beam or a low beam according to the detected condition. (Refer to JP-A-2001-138801, for example.)